You are…

Aga Wicinska, member since 2013 

What brought you to the club

I wanted to join a club of like-minded people who I could train with. I spend a lot of time training on my own, so being able to do that in a group is a great advantage. Also I have hugely benefited from the advice I received from all the coaches who have been a constant source of reason and experience. Triathlon is a sport that contains an overwhelming amount of information and it’s very easy to focus on the wrong things. The experience and patience of the coaches was a great way to avoid that pitfall.

When you aren’t swimming/cycling/running, you are…

Baking! I have a small baking business (https://www.healthybakes.uk/) providing healthier but equally tasty alternatives to cakes, cupcakes and other treats. I also work as a Service Delivery Management specialist in central London.

The most challenging thing you have ever done

This may be a shock to a few….giving up smoking. Until this day, having completed several tough sport challenges, I still think that beating the habit of smoking was the hardest one. It was also the most frustrating one as I did not think of myself as a smoker, but more a social ‘user’. It took a lot of mental discipline and patience (mostly from the people around me!).

Your favourite book

Ah, I really wish I had more time to read/watch movies, but when I do, I really enjoy Haruki Murakami’s stories. His style of writing is very unique and a real pleasure to read. Luckily for me, he’s not too active at the moment so doesn’t release too many books for me to catch up on. 🙂

If you could be an animal, you would want to be…

A cat. Obviously. I’m a hopeless cat lover! They’re independent, yet (surprisingly) faithful. If you’re patient enough and can accept their individuality you’ve got a friend for life – I am very much the same. 🙂

What you like best about the club

Serpentine always amazes me how friendly and welcoming it is to all levels of athletes. Both beginners and seasoned runners/triathletes mix together and are keen to learn and have fun together. This also encouraged me to get into coaching myself. I am now a Level 2 British Triathlon Federation coach and really enjoy coaching complete beginners as well as those who are looking into optimising their performance for qualifying races.

Most unusual race you have ever done

One of the most memorable races I’ve done was an obstacle race in Scottish Borders called the Mighty Deerstalker. It took place after dark and each participant had to crawl, climb, walk upstream a freezing river. The distance was just over 10km, which doesn’t sound like much but the obstacles were pretty taxing. The fact that my hand was still in a cast after a bike crash a month earlier also didn’t help.

Your top training tip

Listen to your body! More doesn’t mean better in triathlon. Over the years I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that only if you work WITH your body does it have a chance to rise to its full potential. It’s often hard to back off but I’ve learned that even an unplanned rest day is much better than dealing with the frustration of an injury. Equally so, all the little bits like core, strength, stretching really do work. For years my foam roller was mostly collecting dust in the living room, but now we are used to each other and I haven’t been injured for at least a couple of years now.

Your next big goal

My next big race is the 70.3 World Championship in South Africa in September. After that I will probably take a few months of rest from structured training before I start making plans for the 2019 season. There’s already a strong group of Serpies forming for the Half Ironman distance in Montenegro in May next year.

Something you have never told anyone else or that would surprise others

Back in my younger years (…ahem) I practised Kyokushin Karate and competed at national level.

Archive of previous profiles: Elizabeth Ayres, David Evans, Eddie Ware, Coralie Frost, Karen Hancock, Vanessa Armond, Elvira Gonzalo

If you would like to be featured in our ‘Meet the Club Member’ series, please email me.

Eda Korkmaz
communications@serpentine.org.uk